By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

HENDERSON, Mich. — Extremely good yields characterized corn seed test plantings in Shiawassee County, in Michigan’s Thumb region, last summer.

Charlie Guzieack’s farm in Henderson played host to 48 test varieties of corn in 2009, for the Farmer’s Independent Research of Seed Technologies (F.I.R.S.T.). Of the top 30 reported in this all-season test, the lowest yield was still over 221 bushels per acre.
The title of highest yield on this plot – 270.9 bushels per acre – went to G2 Genetics’ 5H-199 variety, with a harvested moisture of just under 19 percent. Dairyland’s 9799 variety came in second with 257.3 bushels per acre, and rounding out the top three was NuTech Seed’s 3T-295 seed. Its yield was 245.7 bushels.

Harvest moisture levels were roughly the same for these two, as for the G2 Genetics variety; in fact, moisture didn’t vary too widely for the top 30 varieties.

“Yields actually have been better in some areas than anticipated for the weather conditions we’ve had this year,” said Rich Schleuning, F.I.R.S.T. test manager for the North East Corn Belt, which consists of Indiana, Ohio and southern Michigan. “Some areas were dry in July and August, and never really seen rainfall step in until late August and September.”

Guzieack’s soil was Capac sandy loam, well-drained and non-irrigated, with conventional fall till and containing high phosphate levels; it was previously planted to soybeans treated by glyphosate herbicide. Pest management on the 2009 plot was achieved by using Atrazine, Buctril and Force.

“Moistures were dryer than expected for lacking 350-plus growing degree days this year,” Schleuning wrote in his report. “You could tell that there was an early frost, as some hybrids still had a little green color.”

Harvest rates were also excellent; corn was seeded at a rate of 35,000 plants per acre in mid-May, and finished the season at just under 34,600 as of the Nov. 16 harvest.